


Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Volume 3

by iBlewupthemoon



Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [3]
Category: Highschool DxD (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Language, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28900221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iBlewupthemoon/pseuds/iBlewupthemoon
Summary: You've gotten to know Issei Hyodo, a devil known as the "harem king." However, after the world of High School DxD as you know it is reset and the Longinus users mysteriously vanish, our story now focuses on what could be considered his opposite, Makoto Fujiwara, an angel with no desire for a harem. However, fate begins to lead him on the same path as the goddess who reset the world threatens the very balance of Heaven and Hell.As both the Underworld and the Church are planning to make their move against the Goddess of Death, a phantom from Kiba's past reemerges as a rogue splinter faction of the Grigori makes plans of their own. Thankfully, the Occult Research Club has help in the form of two holy sword wielders, which they're going to need, as they face their fiercest opponent yet.
Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107470
Kudos: 2





	1. Finger Lickin' Good

"Alright! I am so looking forward to this assignment. I've always wanted to spend more time with them!"

"Don't forget the reason us two were assigned as her bodyguards."

"Isn't it to protect her before the Conference?"

"There's more. The Purist Faction is on the move. She may be in danger. Especially if the Khaos Brigade decides to intervene."

* * *

**Volume 3: Twin Exorcists of the Fallen Conspiracy**

"Hello. My name is Hagane Sasaki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Another cute transfer student in a matter of weeks. That would definitely interest Matsuda and Motohama.

Except they weren't in here. What the hell are they up to?

Nevermind. I know exactly what they're planning.

I asked Rias earlier if Hagane was going to be part of her peerage, but she told me no.

"Even though she ran away, she's technically still part of Milcom Amon's peerage since she didn't kill him. We would have to make an exchange for me to officially acquire her."

"I guess that's not happening, since we're enemies with him and all," I said. "Why did she say she ran away?"

"The fact that she had your jacket was wearing on her. She felt like she had to repay the kindness you showed," she said. "By the way. Why _did_ you give her your jacket?"

Rias had a suspicious face.

"It's a long story..."

"Well. I think you'll be happy to know I _did_ manage to acquire Ravel Phenex as my first Bishop."

"How so?"

"After you were able to fight off both Diodora and Halja, Riser felt she was in much safer hands with us, so he exchanged her for one of my Bishop pieces. She's enrolled in the same year as Koneko."

So, a good part of the day managed to go by without incident, but then one of the office assistants came in right as one of the classes ended.

"Excuse me, but the Counselor wants to see Makoto Fujiwara."

I was excused from class and I was about to head to the office when I was stopped by two knuckleheads.

"Cutting class again, I see?" Motohama said. "Just like we are."

"Actually, my mom wanted to see me in her office. So, I have an actual excuse this time."

"Ooh! Can we come too?" Matsuda said, both of them overly excited.

"Absolutely not!" I was about to get onto them for perving on my mom again, but I changed the topic. "Then they will know that you're onto something."

"Onto what?" Motohama asked.

"You know what I'm talking about…"

"Anyway. That's not the issue we're worried about," Motohama added.

"What issue?" I asked.

"We know you walked to school with a posse of girls today!" Matsuda said. "Including that cute transfer student!"

So, they _do_ know.

"Don't you dare turn into Yuuto Kiba on us!" Motohama added.

"Trust me. I'm _nothing_ like him."

That was technically correct. He's a devil and I am an angel.

"Well, that's a relief," Matsuda said. "Anyway, PE's about to start, so we better head to the Locker Room!"

They headed down the hall.

Since when did our PE time change?

Anyway, I continued on and entered my Mom's office, where she had brought two _more_ girls.

One of them had chestnut-colored hair tied up into twintails and the other one, who was drinking the coffee Mom had prepared, had short blue hair with a green accent.

They were both wearing black jumpsuits under a white cloak.

"Oh. It's so great to see you again, Makoto!" the twintailed girl said.

"I'm sorry, but when did we meet, again?"

"C'mon! I'm Irina! Don't you remember that Summer in Middle School where you stayed with us in England!?"

"Vaguely."

"This may help," Mom said.

She handed me a picture. I, along with a tomboyish girl whose family we were staying with, was holding a sheathed sword that Mom acquired. I believe she currently keeps it in a glass case in the Basement.

"Oh! Irina Shidou!" I said as it clicked. "You grew your hair out!"

"Thanks, Makoto. You like it?" Irina asked.

"Eh. I'm more of a short hair guy. Looks good though!"

Says the guy who's Top 2 Girls are two long-haired bombshells. But, hey! You win some, you lose some.

"And this is Xenovia Quarta," Mom added. "I've worked closely with her caretaker, Sister Griselda, before."

"Pleased to meet you, Makoto," said Xenovia.

"So why are they here, exactly?" I asked. "Or is it the usual reason?"

"No. The reason they're here is because the Church sent them to act as bodyguards."

"What for?"

"The Church, the High-Ranking Devils, and the Fallen Angels are planning their battle strategy to take back Heaven from Halja," Mother said. "They'll want me at the Vatican in a few weeks to help with their Conference, and Rias will go home to the Underworld where they'll have their conference."

"That's not all," Xenovia said. "There are rumors that the Purist Faction of Grigori are making a move. Those who are loyal to neither the Khaos Brigade nor to the other leaders of the fallen angels."

"So that means they sent us two to stay with her as additional insurance to make sure she's safe from them!" Irina said.

"Anyway," Mom said. "Just wanted you to see them before you get to your next class!"

"Great." I said as I was leaving. "See you later!"

Just what I needed. More girls around the house. Rias already brought two the other day!

Since PE was apparently about to start, I headed in the direction of the Locker Room and went inside.

And it was full of girls!

"Sorry! Wrong one! Forgive the intrusion!" I apologized as I was beginning to back out.

I knew I shouldn't have followed Matsuda and Motohama's tracks!

"Oh. Hey, Makoto!" Ravel said as I was about to leave.

"Hey, Ravel, how's classes going?" I said, peeking out the corner.

"Good!"

"That's great."

"Don't let that Chick-fil-A distract you from your mission of getting to the right Locker Room, Makoto," Koneko said.

"What the hell is a Chick-fil-A?" said Aika.

"Fried chicken." Koneko explained.

"Hey!" Ravel exclaimed.

I went to one in England. I guess Koneko is familiar enough with that international chain to make an avian insult out of it.

"Hey, Makoto? This locker is jammed." Hagane said. "Could you help me with this?"

"Sure."

I fumbled with the handle a bit and sure enough, I managed to get it open.

And guess who was inside?

All the girls gasped.

"C'mon! Makoto just waltzed right in here! Why didn't y'all freak out over him!?" Matsuda exclaimed

"Because, unlike you two, he at least tries to respect women," Koneko replied.

"Tries?" I asked.

She violently threw Matsuda and Motohama out of the Locker Room.

"Sorry, Makoto, but you're not allowed in here either," Koneko said as she nudged me out as well and slammed the door.

"You smug prick! How did you do that!?" Matsuda exclaimed. "Not to mention, you brought, not one, but two hot transfer students."

"What can I say? I have a magnetic personality."

"Yeah. I don't think your personality is what's magnetic," Motohama commented.

I got a chuckle out of that before a felt a bizarre discomfort in my right arm.

"What is it?" Motohama asked. "Do you have a sudden urge after you accidentally walked into the girls changing?"

"No. I, uh, hurt my arm the other day and the Nurse told me to see her if it bothers me again."

"That's great," Motohama replied. "Hope you feel better!"

By the Nurse, I was referring to Akeno.

Apparently, the enchantment Suzaku put on my dragon arm was merely a stopgap measure. As Halja found out the hard way, that power is much harder to contain than you would think.

So, Rias and Akeno agreed to take turns scattering the dragon spirit so that it maintains the appearance of a normal arm, as only powerful devils like them are able to carry out this ritual.

Either that, or they really want an excuse to have some intimate time with me.

I entered a room on the second floor of the old schoolhouse that Akeno often used that was laid out like a traditional Japanese room, complete with _tatami_ flooring. They was a magic circle which I was to sit on when she performed the ritual on me.

I removed my shirt as Akeno entered the room.

She's, yet again, in just a bathrobe with her hair down as she had just gotten out of the shower.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to make preparations."

Goodness. She's even more alluring than before. I was trying not to gaze too hard at how easily I could see through her bathrobe.

"I'm in no rush. Feel free to get dried off if you want."

"Actually, it helps when my body's still damp."

"Oh. That's… good, then," I chuckled.

I sat down on the magic circle and she knelt down in suit.

"Let's begin," she said. "Hold out your right hand."

I obliged. She grasped my hand and began to suck on my index finger with her mouth.

Ooh, yeah! That's the spot. I could feel the tension in my right arm began to fade away as the well of energy generated by Albion was being channeled out of my right index finger.

I was nervous about this at first, but this is such a very pleasant sensation!

Akeno does seem to be making odd noises, though. My mind was curious as to what sort of enjoyment she's getting out of this.

She then suddenly licked my finger and pulled out.

"Oho! That tickles!"

"My, my. You are such a goof," she said. "This isn't turning you on by any chance, is it?"

"Not at all. Why would you get that idea?"

I could feel something running down my nose.

"Oh. Let me take care of that for you."

Akeno quickly grabbed a handkerchief and wiped off my nose.

Wait a second. Where did that blood come from!?

"It's okay. I'm a bit aside myself as well. We all thought you were dead, but you came back and sent Halja packing. You are such a fascinating junior. I don't know what to do."

She continued sucking out the dragon spirit, but this time she had positioned her _much_ closer to me.

This was causing a sensory overload. The feel of her damp skin, her thick scent, her wet hair…

This is starting to feel odd, but I can't put my finger on this feeling, partly because it's currently being serviced by Akeno.

She continued for a few moments and said "I think that covers it for today,"

"Whew. Thanks," I said. "I needed that."

"By the way…" she said. "Was it true what I overheard Rias saying? That I made the first move?"

"I guess it is."

I've noticed she's the only club member besides me who refers to her by her first name. I suppose that's expected when you've been besties for nearly ten years.

"That's wonderful!" she said, giggling, and then proceeding to hug me, having seemed to have forgotten the state of dress she was in.

Or maybe she doesn't care.

"I haven't forgotten what you said earlier, about how you'd still like me no matter what I was. And to think you were nearly killed…" She let go of me. "Sorry. I'm rambling a bit. You're free to go now."

"Thanks," I said nervously as I left the room. "Take care!"

Right as I was leaving, I collapsed to the wall as it all clicked.

"Damn! That was erotic!" I blurted out. I could hear Akeno giggling as she was exiting the room after me.

I looked at that picture that Mother gave of me and Irina.

Despite that episode, what was still at the top of my mind was the fallen angel conspiracy that Irina and Xenovia were talking about.

To get information about this new enemy, I would have to contact an old enemy.

I picked up the phone and called her.

"What? Do I need to save your ass again?"

"Not right now, Yuma." I replied. "What do you know about the Purist Faction?"

"Oh boy. They're nasty pieces of work," she said. "I'm not that crazy about devils, but they take it to the next level.

Their leader is named Kokabiel. He used to be one of the leaders of Grigori a long time ago, but he rebelled when Azazel wanted to make peace with the other two factions and the humans."

"Do you know why he's not involved with the Khaos Brigade like Mittelt is?"

"Halja is willing to use anyone from the Three Factions to ensure she's the supreme ruler. Kokabiel, on the other hand, wants to continue the war between the Three Factions all the way to a decisive victory for the Fallen Angels."

"Pretty stubborn, if you ask me," I commented.

"Maniacal is more like it."

"Who are you talking to, Makoto?" Kiba asked as he was walking through.

"I gotta go. See ya," I hung up. "Nobody, really," I replied.

He noticed the picture I was holding. "Hold on. Can I see that?"

"Sure."

He looked at it and his eyes lit up. But not in excitement.

"I recognize that."

"Recognize what?"

"That's a Holy Sword. I'm very much acquainted with those."

"What? You've wielded one of those?"

"On the contrary. My purpose is to destroy a particular one."

"Well," I said. "It better not be this one. My mom went to considerable lengths to acquire this."

"No," he replied. "You need not concern yourself. This is personal."

It was like I saw a completely new side of Kiba. One far different than his radiant pretty boy side.


	2. Excalibur: A True Underdog Story

"Easy there, Koneko!" I said.

"If the Class President's Rooks are anything like us, you have to be prepared for a pitch like that."

"We have a girl in a suit of armor and _you_. I doubt they have anything to compete with that."

Me and Koneko were practicing in the field for the Sports Tournament, where all the school's clubs would be competing against each other.

Our biggest rival would be the Student Council, which would mean facing Sona Sitri's peerage.

I tossed the baseball back to Koneko, and she again pitched it back to me.

I narrowly caught it right before it busted my family jewels.

"Okay. I know you're short, but c'mon!"

"Again. You need to be prepared."

"Nice catch there, Makoto!"

I heard Irina call out from behind me. She and Xenovia had somehow acquired the school uniform, but I can't recall them being transferred here.

"Thanks, Irina!"

"Hey, why aren't you wearing shorts?" Irina asked Xenovia. "They'll help prevent unwanted flashing!"

"Lady Gabriel gave us these uniforms to help us blend in better." Xenovia replied. "Wearing bike shorts, a crucifix, and especially having _that_ on you won't help our case," pointing to a piece of string she was wearing on her arm.

"Says the one who dyed her hair."

"Some bodyguards that Ms. Gabriel got there…" Koneko commented as they continued arguing about how to wear the uniform.

"We'll be cheering you on, Makoto!" Irina exclaimed as the argument reached a stalemate.

"I'm cheering on the Student Council," Xenovia commented. "It doesn't feel right to cheer on devils."

"Hate to break it to you, but the Student Council is also composed of devils."

"Really? That's weird." she said. "Then I guess I'll cheer you on then!"

"Hey, Makoto?" Rias came up to me and said. She had on a tennis uniform. "The Tennis match is about to start in half an hour. Could you find Yuuto for me?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

After about 15 minutes of looking, I cut my losses, grabbed my tennis uniform and went up to the court.

"You couldn't find him?" Rias asked.

"No, I couldn't," I replied. "He's been acting weird ever since I showed him a picture of a sword."

"Well, I think the two of us more than suffice for our second and third-year tag team."

"Thanks, Rias."

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Class President was teamed up with Genshiro Saji, one of the second-years.

"Saji!" Sona barked. "Focus up! The opponent is more formidable than we anticipated!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Saji is one of her Pawns," Rias explained. "He has a spirit similar to yours, so he took four Pawns."

"Yeah! Let's go Team Rias and Makoto!"

Everyone erupted into cheers as Matsuda and Motohama yelled that.

"Never knew I would see the day that people were in agreement with those two," I commented.

"We seem to have won the crowd, Sona." Rias said.

"Yeah. But that doesn't reflect on who wins the game in the slightest, Rias."

"Makoto, we're showing no mercy to those two. Understood?"

"Completely."

Rias made the first serve, leading to another round of cheers from both the boys and girls. Sona continued the rally as she struck the ball to similar fanfare.

Sona's strike went in my direction. Remembering Koneko's advice, I braced myself for a fastball and responded in turn, volleying it back at Sona.

I heard some scattered cheers. Some from the girls, but I could mostly hear Matsuda and Motohama as well as Irina and Asia.

I can guess two reasons why the crowd's more interested in Rias and Sona. Three if you include the miniskirts.

However, that shot caught Sona off guard and she hit it off-sides.

That got the crowd riled up like I wanted it.

"15-0 Gremory!"

"Yeah. You showed the Class President what for!" Matsuda yelled.

"Not bad, Makoto. I underestimated you," Sona commented.

"Thank you."

"But I'm not giving up! Sitri Spin-Ball!"

Did I just see her glow blue as she served the ball?

"Oh yeah?" Rias replied "Gremory Counter-Attac-"

The ball suddenly changed its trajectory and hit the ground twice before she was able to pull off that move.

"15-15!"

"Hey! Foul!" I protested. "Aren't you supposed to be the rules lawyer here, Sona!?"

"Now, now, Makoto. I said no mercy, remember?" Rias replied. "We have 108 styles of magic ball, you know?"

"Well this one will make 109."

I flashed white and served the ball in Saji's direction.

It hit his racket and shattered it.

"Oops." I muttered.

Saji grew pale as Sona glared daggers at him.

Despite me breaking Saji's racket, the point still stood. "30-15 Gremory!"

Sona was out for blood. She served right back at me and shattered my racket in retaliation.

"30-30!"

"You dare target Makoto!?" she said as I passed the ball back to her.

"You said it yourself, Rias," Sona replied. "No mercy!"

What followed after Rias served that ball was anybody's guess.

* * *

"Damn, Makoto!" Motohama said as I rested in the Locker Room. "You were absolutely wicked out there!"

"Thanks," I replied as he handed me some water.

"You have any idea what the final verdict was on that game?" Matsuda asked.

"Well, since all four of our rackets were busted, and the whereabouts of that ball was known only by God, the game was ruled as a draw. The group matches will determine the outcome now."

"Hey, Makoto. Have you heard about the mysteriously disappearing panties?" Motohama added.

"What!?" I exclaimed. "That's absurd… Unless you two were involved, perhaps."

"Oh no!" Matsuda replied. "We may be perverts, but we're not brutes!"

"That's a relief," I said, "By the way, have you seen Yuuto Kiba anywhere?"

"Not a clue," Motohama replied. "I haven't even seen any groupies that would possibly be his. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering…"

"Hey, if you're into that kinda stuff, we're perfectly okay with it!" Matsuda commented.

"Trust me, there are two massive benefits to being in the club and Yuuto Kiba isn't one of them."

"Oh. Trust me. I would understand!" he replied. "Stay shiny, you lucky dog!"

Even so, Rias and I are worried about Kiba. What has gotten into him?

* * *

It was decided that the Occult Research Club and the Student Council would settle the tiebreaker in a game of Dodgeball.

Asia entered the Gym after me and she was wearing-

"Um… Aika told me that bloomers were part of the Dodgeball uniform."

Not gonna lie. Her legs are looking quite good in bloomers. Still…

"Aika!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, Makoto." Aika said as she entered, wearing the regular PE shorts. "Don't lie to yourself and say that the sight of your servant's pearly white legs isn't firing you up."

"I'm already fired up from getting my Tennis racket busted by Sona Sitri."

"Well, then you're bound not to lose now, right?"

"Hmm. Might as well!"

The rest of the club soon joined us, followed by Kiba a while after.

"Oh! Nice to see you, Yuuto!" Rias said, joyfully.

"Let's just get this over with…"

His tone of voice is still odd. What about that supposed Holy Sword is bothering him so much?

"Anyway," I said. "Now that we're all here. Mom wanted you all to have these."

She made headbands for all of us with "Occult Research Club" embroidered on them.

"Oh. How thoughtful of her!" Rias said as she grabbed the first one.

"My. She came prepared," Akeno added, quickly grabbing the second one.

They all took them and put them on their forehead.

"Here, Kiba. Take one." I said.

"Oh… Thanks…"

His mind is clearly not in this. What the hell's going on?

A few minutes later, we were called to the starting lines and the whistle was blown to start the game.

As I narrowly dodged several shots from the Student Council, I was beginning to notice a pattern.

Aika seemed to notice it too. "Hey, how come 90% of those shots are at you, Makoto?"

"Well. Rias and Akeno are out of the question. They're the two idols of this school. Same with Asia. Everyone adores her. The girls will murder you if you eliminate Kiba. They would feel bad if they go for Koneko or Hagane, even though they both can easily kick your ass in retaliation. Ravel looks like the type of person who would have you sued, and you would probably have a filthy doujin commissioned of them if they eliminate you. So, by process of elimination it's the weird guy who's constantly cutting class."

I said that while I was dodging what felt like five million balls.

"I would say that's pretty spot-on."

By the time I was done with that summation of why I'm the prime target, I was about out of breath.

One particularly fierce ball went straight for me and I would have been eliminated if Asia didn't take it for me.

"Asia! No!"

As Asia went to the sidelines, I located the culprit, who was none other than Tsubaki Shinra, the Vice President, and I swiftly eliminated her.

Meanwhile, I noticed Kiba looked completely zoned out.

"Kiba! Get your head in the game!"

"Oh. Sorry, Makoto…" he said, dodging a shot that was coming right at him.

"Well, at least there's no magic balls this time." I commented.

I spoke too soon. I saw Sona glowing blue again and she made a spike right for me.

Again. Koneko's training is coming into play.

I braced for the approaching projectile and instead of trying to dodge it, which would have probably been impossible, knowing Sona, so I took it head on and caught it in my bare hands!

The force caused me to skid back several meters, but she's eliminated either way!

"Nice catch, Makoto!" Akeno said. "You eliminated both the Class President _and_ Vice President!"

"Yeah! That's for breaking my racket, Four-Eyes!"

"Makoto! Watch out!" Koneko exclaimed.

Another ball was heading my way. Low.

But I was too late!

It was a pain unlike any I had experienced. Yes. I had my arm chopped off by Halja. But this was far more humiliating.

"Agh! Right in the plums!"

"Yeah! That was for the Class President!... And my racket!"

Hagane swiftly knocked Saji out in retaliation as I hobbled off the court.

"And that was for Makoto's nuts!"

"You were great, Makoto! We'll take it from here!" Rias told me.

"Let's avenge Makoto's manhood!" Akeno exclaimed.

Asia quickly escorted me outside and she was quickly followed by Xenovia and Irina.

"Are you okay, Makoto!?" Irina asked.

"Me? Yes." I replied "My balls? Definitely not."

"Can you still reproduce!?" asked Xenovia.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Here." Asia said as she applied her Twilight Healing over my pants.

I have never felt more relieved in my life.

I collapsed next to the side of the gym.

"Oh. You're a lifesaver, Asia."

"By the way Asia," Irina added. "I was so worried when I heard the church had you excommunicated! I'm so relieved that Makoto took you in! I always thought you were such an angel but now you're an actual one."

"I- I was foolish," Asia said, beginning to cry. "I was foolish to heal a fiend like Diodora and work for servants of the Goddess of Death."

"Don't say things like that, Asia." I said, patting her on the head.

"What's past is past! You're with us, now! You don't have to apologize for your past mistakes."

"Yeah, Asia." Xenovia said. "You have a great family, now. Even if most of them are devils, I could tell just from Makoto's interactions with them throughout the day that they aren't so bad after all!"

"Man, it's only been a couple days and I already know I'll miss this place when our assignment is through." Irina said, suppressing some tears herself.

I agree. I feel like the four of us could be the start of something great.

From the inside of the gym I could hear the news. "The Occult Research Club Wins!"

* * *

We went back at the house shortly after, narrowly avoiding a massive downpour that came our way.

"You notice anything odd about Kiba?" I asked Rias.

"Of course I have. I wouldn't be a good master if I didn't," she replied. "I had to get onto him for being a no-show at the Tennis match. No offense to you. You turned out to be a better match for Sona's particular style of playing.

But even when I was reprimanding him, he was displaying to emotion at all. It was like he was a completely different person. Do you have any idea? You mentioned a sword a while back."

"Well, my Mom gave me this old picture of me and Irina, one of the bodyguards sent by the Church," I replied, handing her the picture. "Kiba said that it was some sort of holy sword."

"If you want, I could show you it." Mom said. She was accompanied by Irina and Xenovia.

"I would love to."

We went down to the basement. She unlocked one of the rooms to reveal a large amount of various memorabilia – swords, armor, whatnot.

"You have an impressive collection Ms. Gabriel!" Rias said.

"Various odds and ends I've collected from my relationship with your family and the church."

I recognized the sword from the picture. I read on the inscription on the glass case, "Ascalon"

I then noticed a large sword that I haven't seen in this room before that was almost like a battle axe. "What is that?"

"That's actually my weapon. Excalibur Destruction," Xenovia said. "Lady Gabriel offered to store it in here for safe-keeping while we were off-duty."

"I'm actually wearing mine," Irina said, pointing to the string on her arm. "It's called Excalibur Mimic."

"So, you two are rocking _Excalibur!?_ " I said. "That's metal."

"Almost," Xenovia explained. "They both are a seventh of the full Excalibur.

Which reminds me, Lady Gremory, part of the reason we're here is because the church believes that at least one of the three Excalibur pieces that had been stolen from us by the Grigori have been located in this town. The Church is asking that your servants not intervene in our mission to track them down."

"I accept that proposal. We can't afford to tread lightly with something as deadly to us as Holy Swords."

I noticed someone was peeking in through the door.

"Kiba?"

He ran off.

"Excuse me for one second," I said as I followed him

I ran into the living room. Asia and Aika were in there.

"Yuuto bolted out of here suddenly!" Aika said, motioning towards the front door, which had been opened.

I went to grab one of the umbrellas.

"Here! Take this one!" Mom said to me, tossing me a specific umbrella.

"You may need _that_ one."

I nodded, as I opened the umbrella and dashed outside.

"Yuuto!" I cried out. Since I used to view him as a rival, I usually didn't use his first name, but I'm making an exception here.

"I told you not to concern yourself with this."

"You told me yourself that I would get killed if I took on exorcists by myself. Now you're going on a one-man crusade on Excalibur. That's _suicide!"_

"You and me both know that's not the same. I don't expect a goody-two-shoes angel like yourself to understand the concept of revenge!"

Okay. That's it. Let's see you grit those teeth!

I reached out to slap some sense into him, but he was fast enough to grab my hand before it connected.

"Don't you _dare_ start acting like Rias Gremory! You are _nothing_ compared to her!"

"Snap out of this, Yuuto! Everyone is concerned about you! I don't want my friend to die!"

I was beginning to shed tears just thinking of that.

"Friendship!? Don't be so naïve!"

"Ooh. Look what we have here! Angelface and the Prince are sure looking like a divorced couple!"

I know that voice.

It was Freed Sellzen! And it appears he's acquired a new toy! Could it be?

"You said I didn't understand the concept of revenge, right?" I told Yuuto as I collaped the umbrella and began unscrewing the end of it. "Well, you were wrong…"

I unsheathed the blade concealed within my umbrella.

"I'll never forget the face of the man who murdered Asia."


	3. Confiscating Stolen Goods

"The glow of that sword!" Yuuto exclaimed, "It can't be!"

"Ooh! You have a sharp eye, Princess!" Freed replied. "I'm dying to find out who will win. Your mass-produced pocket knives? Angelface's umbrella? Or this holy sword _**EXCALIBUR!**_ "

Yuuto scowled and summoned one of his swords. "Enough! I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit! Holy Eraser!"

He charged at him as his blade was engulfed in darkness.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth, pretty boy!?" Freed said as his blade clashed with Yuuto's blade of darkness.

However, this time it was the darkness that ended up being fizzled out instead of the light of Freed's sword.

Freed made a buzzer sound. "Sorry! But this isn't some cheap sword of light like last time."

"So, it's a genuine article after all. I now have free reign to end you and that cursed blade!"

Yuuto swiftly elbowed Freed in the face and knocked him into the mud.

"Tch! I wanted to deal with Angelface first for ejecting me out a window. But now that you've ruined my robes, you're first!"

He leapt at him and his Holy Sword shattered Yuuto's blade.

I rushed to get between them before he could get in a blow on Yuuto, which I knew would be fatal to him.

His blade clashed with my umbrella-sword.

It seems like a flimsy blade, but it somehow held up against what's presumably an Excalibur much better than one of Yuuto's.

Nice to see you've finally graduated from Taking-The-Bullet Academy, Angelface!"

"With honors, to boot. You'll pay for what you did to Asia!"

My sword began to glow in a way not dissimilar from his Excalibur as its aura knocked him back.

"Time out!" Freed said. "Gabriel made a Holy Sword out of an umbrella!?"

I glanced at my blade. "Mom made a Holy Sword out of an umbrella!?"

Then Xenovia rushed out wearing her cloak with her Excalibur Destruction. Irina was close behind, turning Excalibur Mimic into a katana.

"Well, shit. Looks like the rozzers are onto me! Good night everyone!"

As Freed said that, he dropped a flashbang and vanished.

Yuuto dashed off at him as the other two rushed to my aid.

"You're not injured, are you!?" Irina asked me.

"No. I'm fine."

"Let's get you inside," Xenovia said.

* * *

"So Yuuto is gone?" Koneko said, with much more concern in her voice than usual.

"He ran off after that exorcist," Rias replied. "I was unable to stop him…"

"Then we should go after him!" Aika exclaimed. "Freed has a Holy Sword. He's gonna get killed!"

"Absolutely not!" Rias said, with a much harsher tone than usual. "I can't afford to have another one of you risk their lives like that! Any contact with the swords can be fatal!"

Aika looked furious, Koneko looked frustrated, and Asia looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Rias sighed, she looked frustrated as well. "We should trust these exorcists. They are our best bet of getting Yuuto back."

"Why is Freed Sellzen even working with the Purist Faction, anyway? Wasn't he in cahoots with the Khaos Brigade last time we saw him?"

As I said that, everyone glanced at me as I was soaking wet from the rain.

"Bath. Now," Rias told me.

"Okay…"

* * *

I began warming up the bath.

Since I was alone, I had to ask Albion something.

"Hey, Dragon."

" _What is it, partner?"_

"I heard my mother mention Halja having a Balance Breaker as well. What is that about?"

" _Funny you should ask. The Goddess of Death has the power of my arch-rival, the Red Dragon, Ddraig._ "

"So, she's not only a powerful goddess, but she has a Sacred Gear of the same type as me!?"

" _Normally, only a human like yourself can obtain a Sacred Gear, but she obtained a shard from its previous owner and, after retconning him and the other Longinus users out, she has the dragon under her subjugation. That's why your mother insisted on stopping her before she could use her Balance Breaker. By that point, especially with your incomplete transformation, she would have been unstoppable."_

"So, if that wasn't a full transformation, how am I supposed to get to the next level?"

" _I don't know what to tell you except that you have to get stronger. She won't make the same mistake of holding back the next time you meet."_

On that note, I began stripping my clothes off until I heard the doorknob click and instinctively protected my privates with a towel.

"Don't fret. It's just me." I heard Rias say. "I'm wearing a towel. So, don't worry."

I was still on the defensive. The towel is still dangerous.

"C'mon," she said as she entered. "It can't be much worse than what Akeno has been up to in your little sessions with her."

I sighed. "You have a point."

"I'll help wash you. I owe you an explanation about Yuuto."

I reluctantly sat down as she began washing my back.

"He was an orphan who was experimented on by a rogue priest named Valper Galilei to wield the Holy Sword Excalibur. When the experiments proved to be unsuccessful, they attempted to dispose of him along with his fellow test subjects, who helped him escape."

"So that's why he wants to destroy Excalibur. Because of it, his friends were killed, and he nearly joined them."

It's the same reason that I want to defeat Halja.

"However, when I found him, he was on the verge of death from the toxic gas, so I took him in as one of my servants."

"I wish I was as cool as you. Always coming to people's rescue like that…"

"But you did that very thing against Halja. A Goddess of Death, for that matter. Even I wouldn't be brave enough to do that, let alone powerful enough to stand against her as well as you did."

"I still feel that I'm stuck in your shadow, though. Everyone thinks you're the coolest person in school and I'm still that weird loner."

"Give them some time. I know for a fact you caught a lot of attention at the Sports Festival. I, for one, think you're cool. The whole club thinks so too."

"Thanks for the support, Rias. I would literally be dead without you."

As she finished washing my back, I suddenly noticed she had created a magic circle in the bathroom.

"Now, I do believe it's my turn to spoil you. Hold out your right hand."

* * *

As I was heading to bed, something was bothering me.

No. It wasn't the spirit-scattering session with Rias. In fact, she was a lot more discrete and delicate than Akeno.

No, what was bothering me was Yuuto.

Even with those two exorcists, Yuma said that a powerful fallen angel was in charge of the Purist Faction.

I struggled to fight Yuma and this dude is likely 10 times stronger than her at least. I doubt the Holy Swords they possess will be enough.

Not to mention we have Freed Sellzen with _his_ Holy Sword. Yuuto struggled to fight against that thing and the next time he fights it may be his last.

We also have that rogue priest Valper that Rias mentioned. He probably has a legion of exorcists under his employ and they likely have the other two stolen pieces.

I'm sorry, Rias. But I have to help save him!

_"Big bro! It's morning! Time to get up! If you don't I'll have to tickle you to death! Tickle tickle tickle-"_

I had set my alarm for the buttcrack of dawn and began heading out the front door until-.

"Where do think you're going?"

I was confronted by Xenovia and Irina.

"Well, now that I've been caught, I'm going back to bed…" I answered Xenovia.

"Don't stop on our account, Makoto!" Irina said. "We'd be glad to have your help!"

"Didn't you say that you didn't want our club's help?"

"The Church didn't want the Underworld potentially getting their hands on Excalibur," Xenovia clarified, "I don't see the problem with Lady Gabriel's son assisting us, though!"

"Well, I'm glad you're willing to help me find Yuuto," I said. "I would probably end up getting killed 100 times without your help. So, what's our first move?"

"Well, we need to look for a man known as the Legendary Sage," Irina said. "He may have information on where to find Valper Galilei, who's the most likely culprit who stole the Excalibur pieces."

"Isn't there _another_ reason you want to track down this Legendary Sage?" Xenovia questioned Irina.

"Well, um… You see…"

"We have reason to believe that he stole Irina's underwear," Xenovia finished for her.

"Xenovia! You don't have to say that out loud!"

"We encountered a monster on our way here that was likely under his control and it used its powers to steal them. Thankfully, Lady Gabriel got her some extras when we told her about it."

"Xenovia!"

"So, the mysterious panty thief is real after all…" I mused.

"Makoto! Not you too!"

"There's no avoiding it, Irina." I said. "Besides, going after him could kill two birds with one stone. We get information about the stolen holy swords _and_ we get your undies back."

Irina went from embarrassed to motivated. "Yeah! You're right!"

"All we have to do now is track him down," said Xenovia. "He could be anywhere."

"I have an idea where he might be," I said.

* * *

I led them to the abandoned building where we, or rather, Enrico Stark, took down that stray devil.

"Why this place?" Irina asked me.

"Rias has located numerous stray devils here in the past. This seems to be a hotspot for magical vagrants who don't want to be found."

I noticed a door in the back that appeared to emanate some sort of magical aura.

"This door seems to be sealed shut with some sort of magic," Irina said. "We might be onto something."

Xenovia busted out Excalibur Destruction and was about to ram through the door.

"Hold up, Xenovia," I interrupted. "Even if that worked, we would certainly draw too much attention if we just went through like that. Akeno taught me a few magic tricks for stuff such as this."

I held up my hand and the door began to glow as a magic seal appeared on the door and it opened up.

"Oh. I see." Xenovia said, lowering her sword.

"Not everything has to be solved with brute force, Xenovia." Irina said.

We walked down some stairs that led down to a dark basement. As we approached a faint light source, we heard someone muttering to himself, which was becoming clearer as we got closer.

"Useless… Wiring's cheap…"

Is he talking about some sort of electronic?

However, as we saw him through the opening of the dimly lit chamber, we found out he was _not_ talking about electronics.

"Now this one's beautiful!" he said as he put a pair of panties in some sort of chest.

"That's some collection," I muttered. "Someone needs a hobby."

"I think that _is_ his hobby." Xenovia replied. "That must be the guy we're looking for."

"That's magnificent!" he exclaimed as he held up a frilly, pink bra.

"Wait! That's mine!" Irina exclaimed.

"Ah. So, you must be the rats scurrying about in the shadows." he turned to us and said as he laid the chest in the middle of a magic circle that was drawn on the floor.

"Way to give away our position, Irina…" I muttered.

I approached the man. "And you must be this 'Legendary Sage' I've been hearing about. No need for alarm. I just need to ask you a few questions."

"And we're here to turn you into the Church for your hedonistic acts," Xenovia added as she raised her blade.

"Amen!" Irina exclaimed.

"Okay, you could have told me that bit before we got here," I commented.

"He's been a fugitive of the Church for many years," Xenovia replied. "And to think he was one of our own once."

"Oh, yes. It all started when I was passing by one of my Sisters when, all of a sudden… my arm, by chance, happened to brush against her chest!

I was never the same! The sensation of her soft breasts were like nothing I've ever experienced before! I struggled to keep my mind pure as I pondered why the Lord has forbidden us from them. But then he sent me a vision at night telling me that I must embrace those feelings! And ever since then, in spite of the Church's persecution, I seek to carry out God's work!"

Irina and Xenovia looked absolutely flabbergasted by the Sage's anecdote.

"Well, that was… interesting…" I commented. "But that doesn't answer my question. What do you know about the whereabouts of Valper Galilei?"

"I- I don't know a thing!" he exclaimed.

"Oh really!?" I said as I approached him. I summoned my Diving Gear and tapped him on the shoulder.

" _DIVIDE!"_

I stretched out my right arm as I followed through with the transformation.

" _VANISHING DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!"_

"Wait. Vanishing Dragon!?" Irina exclaimed.

He was petrified in fear "Okay! Okay! I'll tell!" he exclaimed as my Scale Mail faded away.

"He's working within this town. His master said something about using Excalibur to wipe out the devils' presence here. That's all I know, I swear."

So, Freed's appearance here was no coincidence. The Purist Faction is here.

"One more thing," I added. "I'm gonna need you to return this young lady's underwear to her. The pink ones with the frills."

"Here! Just take them!" he exclaimed as he tossed me Irina's panties. She swiftly snatched them from my hand and caught her bra shortly after.

He then swiftly grabbed his treasure chest and exclaimed, "But I won't let you stop me from fulfilling the Lord's will!" as he made haste towards the exit.

I reached out with my left hand and, suddenly his hands and feet were bound with rope and he collapsed to the floor, the chest he dropped scattering his stolen underwear over the floor.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Irina asked me. "I need to report our capture to the Church,"

"That was a bit different than _her_ intended use, but I'm glad Akeno taught me that technique!" I said as I handed Irina my phone.

"So, you're affiliated with the Priestess of Thunder? I envy you," the Sage commented "Being surrounded by such well-endowed women like her and her friend Rias Gremory."

"I'm flattered."

"Don't listen to him, Makoto." Xenovia replied.

"Hey, a man of chivalry can still appreciate a fine pair of breasts," I replied. "But you, 'Legendary Sage,' went too far. And it looks like you'll be doing your panty thievery in Prison from now on."

Irina handed my phone back to me. "The Church will handle this from here, including the return of the rest of the underwear he stole," she said as we began heading out.

"Boobies And Peace!" the Sage exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Boobies and peace," I responded.

"Do you have any idea what what he planning to use all those panties for?" Xenovia asked me.

"Who knows?"

"So, it's true that you have the power of the White Dragon?" Irina added

"With that kind of power, we'll be able to take down Kokabiel for sure!"

"Oh. That was just a bluff. The power I took from the Sage only gave me about one second of transformation."

"Still. We may only need a second or two to take him down with that kind of power!" Irina said.

"So, Valper is in this town, huh?"

Yuuto was waiting for us outside the stairway doors.

"You tracked down this Sage as well?" I asked.

"My search for Freed Sellzen's whereabouts reached a dead end," he commented. "So, I followed you three here."

"Whatever works," I said. "From now on, we stick together, okay? I was seriously worried about you."

"I want to apologize for what I said to you earlier," Yuuto told me. "I said some things I really shouldn't have said."

"No. I didn't fully understand what you were going through. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"I just want to give you a heads up," Yuuto told the exorcists. "I plan on destroying those Excaliburs and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"You don't have to warn us," Xenovia said. "If destroying Excalibur means that it's not in the hands of our enemies, then it's fine by us."

"Well, now that we got that out of way," I said. "Now that we know where those swords are, we can't afford to rest until we track them down and destroy them.

Now let's grab some lunch. I'm starving."


	4. The Fast and the Holiest

After grabbing some Lunch, the four of us got back to hunting down the stolen Excalibur pieces.

"Now that we know Valper is in this town, I don't suppose you have an idea where he could be as well?" Xenovia asked me.

"No clue. We already ruled out the abandoned building with the panty thief. There's also an abandoned church we ought to try – the one with a massive hole out front."

"I wonder who caused that," Irina said.

"Who knows?" I replied. "There's also a warehouse that's also a stray devil hotspot he might be at."

"Let's split up," said Xenovia, "We'll check the Church. You two check the warehouse. Call me if you find anything."

"Okay," I said as we went our separate ways. "Try not to get killed."

"The two of us are at a disadvantage, aren't we, though?" Yuuto asked me. "They both got Excaliburs, which have been established already to be superior to even anything I can produce, and you don't even have a sword."

"I still have my Holy Magic. I would have just used that against Freed but I really wanted to kill him with a sword at that time."

"Oh. I feel you, man."

"Hey. Wait for me!"

Asia was rushing towards me and Yuuto. She was followed by someone else muttering.

"Oh man, the Class President is gonna murder me for this… but I just couldn't act uncool in front of Asia-chan!"

"Ah, Saji. What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing much. It's just your servant batted her puppy-dog eyes at me telling me she needed to 'Save Makoto and Yuuto' and I just couldn't say no."

"Well, shit," I muttered. "Sorry, Asia, I should've given you a heads up before running off suddenly like that."

On second thought, she doesn't seem the type to keep secrets very well, so that probably would've been a bad idea.

Though, then again, the fact that she's here may imply she's more okay with us defying Rias' order than I thought.

"No. That's fine," she replied. "I didn't say anything about needing help, though."

"I still can't leave you hangin' like that!" Saji exclaimed. "I don't know what I'd do if I let one of my Juniors get hurt!"

"But we're in the same year."

"Well, in any case, I'm glad the three of us are here," I stated. "As the only three men in this school, we gotta stick together."

"But wait, what about Matsuda and Motohama?" Asia asked.

"The only three men in this school…" I insisted.

"There's also a first year-" Saji began to say.

"So, let's go check out this warehouse,"

Saji started to mutter "Oh, God. I'm in trouble," over and over.

* * *

As we approached the warehouse, Asia began to ask,

"So why does Excalibur bother you so much, Yuuto?"

"I watched my friends die because of the Holy Sword Project. I would have joined them if it weren't for the President." Yuuto said. "Ever since then, my goal in life was to avenge my comrades that Valper Galilei senselessly murdered, and in the name of God for that matter. I need to prove that I'm stronger than those Holy Swords."

"You don't have to do it alone! I have firsthand experience with those who do evil in the name of God!" Asia said, with a confidence I've never seen before. "I want to help you stop them!"

"Wow, Fujiwara, your confidence seems to have rubbed off on her. Helping you guys out may be worth getting punished by the Class President after all," Saji said to me. "Speaking of which. I happen to have a dream myself,"

"And what might that be?" I asked.

"I wanna impregnate the Class President and marry her!" he said without hesitation.

"Well…" I replied. "Good luck with that."

"And what might yours be?"

"Mine's more the reverse of yours. Get married, find someplace quiet to live, maybe have a couple kids."

"Ooh. That one actually sounds better. I need to think of that now. With whom? I've already called dibs on the Class President!"

"I'm not sure, I was thinking maybe Ak-"

As I was saying that. Yuuto suddenly went defensive and Saji followed suit.

"What's going on?" Asia said.

"Is it Freed?" I asked.

"No," Yuuto said. "It's a Stray Devil. A dangerous one."

"Ah. That was rather rude of you to call a lady that, nya."

The woman in question had black hair and was wearing her kimono quite loosely. What was the most notable, however, was her cat ears and twin tails.

"We need to alert the President now," Yuuto said.

"But wait! Aren't we in trouble already!?" Saji said.

"Sona doesn't know what you were doing yet, Saji, so _you_ are safe," I said. "Besides, getting disciplined by our masters is the least of our worries right now."

"You boys don't have to fret, nya. I don't wish to fight you." the stray devil said. "I was actually hired by the Grigori to keep tabs on the Purist Faction. If you were looking for them, you just missed them."

"Well, shoot," Saji commented. "Guess we'll have to keep looking."

"The name's Kuroka, by the way," she said to me, getting dangerously close. "Tell Shirone I said Hi."

"Wait a second!" I exclaimed to her as she leapt through a hole in the roof. "Who the hell is Shirone?"

She looked down at us. "Aren't the two of you already well-acquainted, nya?"

What does she mean by that? Is it someone in the club?

I called Xenovia on the phone. "What's up? You find anything?" she answered.

"Other than a strange catgirl, nope," I replied. "You?"

"Nothing. The place is abandoned."

"Let's regroup in the Park and figure things out from there."

"Roger."

I hung up. "Who was that?" Saji asked.

"An exorcist."

Saji froze up. "An _exorcist!?_ Oh, _hell_ no!"

"It's okay, Genshiro." Asia replied. "They're helping us."

"Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!" Saji muttered as we exited the warehouse.

* * *

We arrived in the park to meet up with Irina and Xenovia.

"You know what's taking them so long?" Yuuto asked.

"I think that Church is farther out from here than the Warehouse is," I replied. "I would give them a few more minutes."

Unfortunately. It was about to be a long few more minutes as Yuuto and Saji suddenly got on the defensive and then Yuuto narrowly blocked a sword strike from a leaping white-haired priest.

"I knew something reeked of hypocrisy around here," I said. "Tell me, Freed, whatever happened to 'good girls kneel before their master,' anyway?"

"As if I would reveal my ways to a devil sympathizer like you, Angelface!"

"I'm going to destroy that sword of your's once and for all," Yuuto said, as swords suddenly appeared around him. "You won't get away this time!"

"I think we've established that the speed of Excalibur Rapidly is too much for little toy swords to handle, pretty boy." Freed replied.

"I've dealt with a swordsman I couldn't block before. You'll go down just like him!"

Yuuto charged at Freed at they got into a fierce struggle.

Just like the last time, the both of them were extremely fast. Anytime Freed took a swing at him, he either was able to dodge it or he let his sword be shattered and it was replaced just as quickly.

"Your Sacred Gear seems to be more than that Holy Eraser you seem to like using," Freed commented as they continued sparring. "Could it be the ultra-rare Sword Birth?"

At multiple points during their battle I attempted to take potshots at Freed with my Power of Retribution, but I kept missing every time. It didn't help that I had to be careful not to hit Yuuto, who would be hurt even more by the attack.

To rub salt on the wound, Freed would keep saying "Missed me~!" every single time I tried it.

"Dammit. He's too fast."

He then ambushed me, grazing my chest region as I narrowly moved out of the way as he then proceeded to continue his lightning-fast duel with Yuuto.

Asia rushed to heal the wound that Freed had dealt.

"Good thing you're not a devil or that would have been bad," Saji said. "Let me help you out here. Line Out!"

A lizard-like device appeared on Saji's arm and it released a cord that wrapped its way around Freed's leg, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Thanks, Saji."

"It's my Sacred Gear, Absorption Line."

"What!? _Another_ Sacred Gear?" Freed exclaimed as he attempted in vain to cut through the line. "This looks like one of those troublesome dragons too!"

So Rias was right, Saji has a dragon spirit like mine.

I fired my Power of Retribution at Freed, but he managed to cut through right through it with his Excalibur before it got a direct hit.

"Ooh. That stings!"

That allowed me to get within range of him. I attacked him with one of my swords of light, which he blocked and then shattered with his Excalibur. I guess the durability of my swords is about on par with Yuuto's.

However, I then managed to block a second strike with my Dividing Gear, and then proceeded to punch him in the gut with it.

" _DIVIDE!"_

"That's quite the durable piece you have there, Angelface."

"It's a Dragon Arm. Of course it's durable."

I then turned to Yuuto.

" _TRANSFER!"_

I transferred the Divided power to him. "Thanks, Makoto!" He then struck the ground with one of his blades.

"SWORD BIRTH!"

Several blades began to erupt from the ground and Freed was furiously trying to cut through each of them.

Again, they weren't that durable, but the sheer numbers were overwhelming Freed.

"So, this is Sword Birth. I've heard it has quite the variety of powers."

An older man began to observe us.

"Oh! Glad to see you here, Gramps!" Freed said to him.

"Valper Galilei!" Yuuto exclaimed.

So that's him. The "mastermind" behind the Holy Sword Project that Yuuto loathed so much.

"Indeed I am."

"Hey, Gramps! I can't get this stupid tongue off me!" Freed told him.

"Try focusing the Holy Element in your body to the blade. That should do the trick."

"Oh! Like this?" Freed's blade began to glow bright and he managed to cut right through Saji's Absorption Line.

"And now I take my leave! Bye~!" Freed said as he began to run off.

But not before he was stopped by Xenovia and her Excalibur.

"You aren't getting away that easy!"

"Hey, Makoto! Catch!"

Irina suddenly threw a dodgeball at me. As I was about to catch it, the ball morphed into the hilt of Excalibur Mimic!

"Thanks, Irina!"

"Oh, of course Gabriel's brat can wield an Excalibur!"

Me and Xenovia had Freed surrounded.

"Looks like you're a natural with that thing," Xenovia told me. "I also happen to be a natural-born wielder."

"Yeah, but I'm the son of a Seraph. That's not as impressive as a human like you."

"We need to fall back," Valper said. "You're outnumbered. We'll deal with those exorcists and the angel at some other time."

"Roger that!" he said as he pulled a flashbang from his jacket, "Bye losers!"

The two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

"Irina! Stay with Makoto! Me and Yuuto are going after them!"

They then ran off to chase after Freed and Valper.

I handed Irina the Excalibur she gave me. "Here's your sword back."

"You can keep it," she said. "Lady Gabriel met us after we searched the Church and she said she had a sword she wanted to give me."

"Okay,"

I then transformed the blade into a wristwatch, which I placed on my right arm.

"Wow. It can even tell the time!"

I then noticed two flashes of light behind us.

"Saji. Explain this right now."

Sona and Rias had teleported in. Oh crap.

"It's my fault, Class President." I explained. "I got him and Asia dragged into this."

"I appreciate your honesty, Makoto, but Saji's responsible for his actions, not yours."

Saji turned deathly pale! He was then pulled towards Sona as Rias walked towards me.

"You should have given me a heads up," she said. "I would've brought help to you sooner."

"Wait. You're not mad at me?"

"Why else did I send Asia to you?"

That explains a lot.

"And besides, you're not one of my servants. You should be able to make your own decisions."

"Well that's a relief."

I then saw a flash of light followed by Saji screaming in pain.

Saji wasn't kidding. He's literally getting his ass whooped (with demonic magic, no less) for acting out of turn.

"Let's get Dinner together, you all must be starving. You're free to come with us too, Irina."

"Oh, come on!" I heard Saji cry out.

"That's their business. You have 990 left!"

Looks like he has a long way to go before he achieves his dream.

It's about to be a very long night for Genshiro Saji.

* * *

She even picked the same nice restaurant that I took Yuma to on her assassination attempt with me. Now I really feel bad for Saji.

"Were you two able to find Yuuto?" Rias asked me.

"Yes. But he and Xenovia ran after Freed and Valper Galilei after our fight with them."

"At least we know where to look now. I know Koneko and Aika seemed quite lonely without him around. Akeno and I are sending familiars to track his location."

"Xenovia said something about me and her being 'natural-born' to wield Excalibur," I said to Irina. "What does that mean?"

"I was able to be trained with Excalibur thanks to the Holy Sword project's research," Irina replied. "Xenovia, however, was chosen based on her natural skill. She's actually working on mastering a blade whose strength rivals all pieces of Excalibur _combined!"_

"Well, I guess we're lucky to be on her side then!" Rias said.

"I know!" Irina said, "You've been so hospitable to us! If I didn't know any better, I would have mistaken you for an angel."

"I appreciate the compliment."

"We later found out about the Project's barbaric treatment of their test subjects and the Church charged that "Genocide Archbishop" with heresy and had him excommunicated."

"What do you know about that priest, Freed Sellzen?" Rias asked.

"He was a former exorcist of the Vatican. A child prodigy," Irina replied. "However, his fame from the slaying of Devils and Beasts got to his head and he also began slaying our allies and was also excommunicated."

"Figures," I said. "Even after he found out I was an angel, he's still insistent on bringing the wrath of God upon me."

"He also made inappropriate comments to my former fallen angel master that she took offense to." Asia commented.

"Knowing her, I doubt she would have had any of that," I replied.

* * *

"Yeeeoww! I said be gentle!" said Saji

"The more you squirm, the longer this is gonna hurt," I said.

Saji was lying down on our couch and Asia and I were using our powers to heal Saji's sore ass, over the pants, of course.

"We're part of the reason this happened so we're doing this to help you."

"It's gonna be over soon," Asia assured him. "I promise."

"Oh, man. My butt is destroyed," he commented.

"Now you know how my balls feel…"

"I still think they shouldn't be allowed to heal him," Sona said to Rias. "He needs more time to reflect on what he's done."

"I think it was more than enough," Rias replied.

"His actions reflect on me. He should learn that sooner than later."

"Maybe you should be more attentive to the feelings of your servants."

"Hmm… Maybe you're right…"

"Hey, Makoto. Could you take a look at this?" Irina asked me as we finished healing Saji.

She was looking at something on Mom's laptop.

"I've been thinking about buying this painting of a Saint but Xenovia kept saying it was fake."

I looked at the picture of the painting she was referring to.

"Who the heck is that?"

"I think that's… St. Peter?"

"It's a fake."

"C'mon! I thought you would be on my side, here!" she protested, "Xenovia didn't understand because she's _Catholic!"_

"Anyone with half a brain would question why the apostle Peter is throwing kisses!"

"Wait, that's what he was doing?"

Before we could finish that, I heard a loud crash through the front window!

It was Xenovia! Something had sent her flying through the window with great force. She looked badly hurt and, more importantly, was missing her sword.

"You're paying for that, you cur!" Mother yelled.

"Sorry to interrupt you and your girlfriend's wedding plans, Angelface, but there's someone out here who wants to meet you all!"

Out the window that had been graciously opened for us, past Freed, was the sight of a fallen angel.

A dangerous one, with ten wings!

"Asia. Take care of Xenovia," Mom said. "I want to see who is foolish enough to cause damage to _my_ property!"


	5. What is War Good For?

Irina and I rushed to Xenovia, who was currently being healed by Asia.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Asia had got her sitting on the couch. She looked quite roughed up. Her cloak and jumpsuit was tattered and she was covered in bruises.

"I'm fine," she said. "I wouldn't have gotten this far if I wasn't tough."

"Who did this to you?" Irina asked.

"Kokabiel ambushed us. He attacked me with a massive light attack. It wasn't a direct hit, but the force alone blew me away and I dropped Excalibur, which Freed took."

"Where's Yuuto?" I asked.

"I don't know. We got separated."

"Asia, stay here with Xenovia. I bet Mom wants to have a chat with Kokabiel about that window."

I walked out the front door to join everyone else to see Kokabiel in the sky directly, with his ten black wings.

"Ah. So, the gang's all here – The sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan and the son of Gabriel."

"Don't think so fast!" Mother exclaimed. "It is I who will be your opponent!"

"Don't make me laugh," Kokabiel replied. "Word has it that you have fallen far past your prime. Didn't you struggle against a mere human only eight years ago?"

"I'll show _you_ who's past his prime, you fiend!"

"Well, that will have to wait. I wish to dispose of the children first."

"And why do you wish to take _us_ on first, you may ask?" Rias asked.

"Well, it's quite simple, actually. Disposing of the three of you, those who are this close to the higher-ups in Heaven and Hell, will certainly spark another Great War between the Factions. One where I will be able to capitalize on the opportunity to attain the absolute power that Azazel and Shemhazai failed to grasp!"

"And why do you insist on _that_ silly strategy to accomplish this?" I asked.

"I thought stealing the pieces of Excalibur would attract the attention of the Church. But all they sent were some grunts and two teenagers who think they can use Holy Swords. So perhaps killing three direct offspring of their head honchos will be a more appropriate wake-up call to both the Vatican and the Underworld."

"Then you must be prepared to face the Church and the Devils together," Sona commented. "They have put their differences aside for quite some time now."

"That's a challenge I'm willing to accept," Kokabiel said. "And besides, that so-called alliance is so flimsy I can probably breathe on it and it will snap!"

"Don't screw with us!" I exclaimed. "We've sent beings stronger than you packing before and we won't stop there!"

"You mean the Goddess Halja and that pathetic fight she had with you? She's so overconfident I can't believe she's kept it up for as long as she has. As for me, I'm willing to go all out and show I mean business! How about starting with your little school? Nice night for a war, isn't it!?"

He then suddenly fired a massive flash of light! Me, along with Rias, Sona, and Akeno put up shields to protect the rest of us, but he merely used it to vanish. No wonder Freed joined his side.

"We need to go to the school now," Rias said. "There's no telling what he's about to do."

"He said he was going to _start_ with Kuoh Academy," Sona commented. "Given that he's a Leader-class, what he will go for next will be much more severe, potentially the entire town."

"Not to mention, if my math is right, he's now acquired four of these." I added, pulling out Excalibur Mimic from my left wrist. "With that kind of power, he can do great harm to the Underworld."

"You're gonna have to hold tight to that thing now, won't you?" Aika commented.

Of course. If he gets his hands on it, that would mean he only has two more before he completes Excalibur.

"You're right, Makoto," Irina said. "We need to stop Kokabiel before he causes considerable damage to multiple worlds."

"You all go ahead to the school," Mom said. "Makoto. Irina. Come with me."

* * *

We followed her to the basement, where she unlocked the door to her Trophy Room.

"I said I had a blade for you, Irina. And here it is."

She opened one of the glass cases.

"Is that?" Irina exclaimed.

"Yes. It's one of the swords your father gave to me, shortly after I acquired Ascalon. He told me to give it to you when you were ready."

She pulled out the sword, which looked similar to a Naval officer's sword, and unsheathed it.

It was a blade made of burnished steel and golden crystal hilt.

"I'm sure not ready for Hauteclere," Irina said. "I only started with Excalibur Mimic not too long ago!"

"It wouldn't hurt for you to give it a shot, given our current situation," Mom replied. "And besides, the key trait its wielder needs is purity of heart. I don't anyone who are more qualified than you."

She passed the blade to Irina, who held it, perplexed. "I don't know what to say."

"It looks great with you," Mom said as Irina sheathed the blade.

"So why did you bring _me_ here?" I asked.

"Well…" Mom said, making a camera gesture with her fingers. "I just wanted to see how cute the two of you look together!"

"C'mon, Mother. This is serious business. Kokabiel's about to nuke the town."

"Ah, but it's been so long. It was only one summer, but I've been dying to see you two reunite."

"Oh, Gabriel, you're making me blush!" Irina said.

"So, I suppose you're going after Kokabiel with us, right?" I said to interrupt Mom's fantasies

"Not yet. I'm going to help Asia get Xenovia back to full strength. Besides, it's you, Rias, and Sona that he wants. I doubt he will accept any challenge with me involved, even at the lowered state I am in.

Besides, I did say that your power could potentially be stronger than mine, especially with the Dragon in the equation."

* * *

"We've created a barrier around the school in order to contain the destruction for as long as possible," Sona said to Rias as Irina and I arrived at the gate of the school.

"Is Ms. Gabriel coming?" Rias asked me.

"Later. Likely in about half an hour. She and Asia are helping Xenovia recuperate."

"I would suggest also requesting for assistance from Lord Sirzechs," Sona commented.

"Why didn't you ask your big sister?" Rias asked.

"Well, umm…"

"Yeah, I already contacted them," I replied. "ETA is about an hour from now."

"How did you get their contact information?" Rias asked me.

"Sirzechs gave his to me," I replied. "Along with Serafall's"

"Oh, great…" Sona said after I mentioned her sister. Is there something going on between them?

"With how dangerous Kokabiel is, we need all the help we can get," I added.

"My, my, you beat me to the punch, Makoto." Akeno said.

"Goodness," Rias said. "I guess that means our job will be to hold them off until help arrives."

"My group will maintain the barrier," Sona said, "You go in and deal with Kokabiel."

We continued inside. Aika promoted to Queen as we went in.

"I guess this is enemy territory now," she said.

"It is," Rias said. "We have between thirty minutes and an hour to hold him off until our reinforcements arrive. Let's take back this place so we can continue to go to school!"

"Whoo! Yeah! Learning!" I sarcastically cheered.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm."

We entered the schoolyard to find Kokabiel lounging on a floating throne.

"How much longer, Valper?"

"About five minutes," he replied.

I noticed a beam of light from the middle of the schoolyard where I could hear him. It was covered in a magic circle which four swords were placed.

What are those two working on?

"So, I guess Gabriel is a no-show," Kokabiel said to us. "Is Sirzechs or Serafall coming?"

"Well, for right now, you'll have to settle with-"

As I said that, he made the gym explode in a pillar of light!

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed.

"I doubt I can block an attack like that!" Aika said.

"This is boring. At least _that_ gave me some amusement."

If that's mere amusement, there's no telling what he can do when he puts his back into it.

"Whatever you're scheming with Valper Galilei, we're putting a stop to it!" Rias exclaimed.

"Oh, really? Because some friends I brought from the Underworld would like to have a word about that."

As he said that, there was a rumbling from the ground and out emerged a massive dog-like creature with three heads.

"Oh, that's most definitely not a good boy." I commented.

"Say hello to Cerberus. The Guard Dog of Hell."

"Well, if that _thing's_ from Hell, then our Holy Swords shall smite them!" Irina said, before charging headfirst after it with Hauteclere and exclaiming, "Amen!"

"Hey, wait for me Irina!" I said, brandishing Excalibur Mimic.

However, before we could get in range, their massive heads began shooting fire at us, preventing us from getting any closer to it without getting barbequed.

"Nice strategy, Irina," I commented.

Suddenly, the dog was stunned as it was attacked by lightning, fire, and destruction magic.

We looked up and saw Akeno, Ravel, and Rias.

"We got your back, Makoto!" Rias told me.

"Finish that beast off!" Ravel said.

Me and Irina leapt at both of the outer heads and each cut them off.

I took the opportunity to tap Cerberus with my Dividing Gear.

" _DIVIDE!"_

I'm saving that up for later.

The last head tried to avenge its siblings but it ate my Power of Retribution and the beast was vaporized.

We weren't out of the clear just yet. Two more appeared and were coming after us!

Koneko nodded at Hagane and picked her up, flinging her at great velocity towards the closer of the two.

In midair, Hagane transformed into her armor and uppercutted the dog.

That was my cue. I was about to get creative with my new Holy Sword toy.

I transformed Excalibur Mimic into a cord that lassoed the Cerberus towards me. I then transformed it back to blade form and cut it clean in half with a two-handed strike.

" _DIVIDE!"_

I didn't know that counted, but hey.

"My, that was quite the creative form of punishment. I'm impressed," Akeno commented.

But there was still... two more? How many of these bitches does Kokabiel have?

The first one went straight for me to avenge its comrade, but Aika blocked the flames and redirected the attack to knock it back, which Irina then capitalized on by cutting the beast in two.

The last one went for Irina.

Akeno and Ravel attempted to slow it down but it seemed to have learned from the last time, as one of the heads attacked the two of them and drew them away from it.

It was about to fry Irina before it was impaled by several swords erupting from the ground.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

It was Yuuto!

"Glad to see you found your way," I commented.

"In more ways than one."

I flew at the incapacitated Cerberus and cut it in half.

" _DIVIDE!"_

"You appear to have accumulated quite a bit of power, Fujiwara," Kokabiel taunted, "What do you plan on doing with that?

I nodded at Rias and Akeno.

"THIS!"

The three of us launched a massive joint attack on Kokabiel.

Which he then proceeded to flick away as it dissipated into the barrier.

"Impossible!" Rias exclaimed.

"Impressive. You three certainly live up to your families' reputation. Of course, that also includes the reputation of being complete disappointments!"

"It's been completed!" Valper exclaimed.

That light source near Valper had disappated and the swords have vanished. In their place a singular sword had formed!

He merged the four Excaliburs together!

"Oh, this isn't good!" Ravel exclaimed.

"'Isn't good' is right, Lady Phenex!" Kokabiel commented. "The light that we used to fuse the pieces of Excalibur we've acquired also cast a spell on the ground beneath you. I'd say your little town has about twenty minutes until it collapses."

This is bad. We have the length of a typical anime episode to take this fallen angel asshole down and stop him from destroying the town. Mother's arrival will cut it way too close and it'll be too late by the time Sirzechs and Serafall get here. We're on our own to stop him.

"That's the most Unholy of Holy Swords I've ever seen!" Irina commented.

"Hey, Freed!" Valper said. "Why don't you take the Fused Excalibur from the circle and provide them with some third-act entertainment?"

"Sure thing, Gramps!" he said as he pulled out the new sword.

Irina, Yuuto, and I rushed after the two of them.

"I wonder what this does," Freed said as he struck the ground, causing a massive quake that knocked three of us back.

"Ah. So that's the power of Excalibur Destruction. Interesting."

I got back up quickly as he charged at us. I blocked his Fused Excalibur as sparks began to fly.

"I'm settling my business with the Wannabe Exorcist!" I told Yuuto. "You go and settle yours with Valper!"

He nodded and began approaching Valper Galilei.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Suddenly, Irina was attacked by a duplicate of Freed!

"How do you like that!? That's Excalibur Nightmare's power. Its illusions are quite potent. And, while we're at it, this is Excalibur Transparency!"

He suddenly vanished!

The only thing that allowed me to guage where he was the gusts of wind I could only assume was from the speed of the Excalibur Rapidly piece he had earlier.

I went with my gut and managed to pinpoint where he was in the nick of time, clashing with his Excalibur as he broke out of Transparency.

"Y'know, it infuriates me how compatible you are with that thing, Angelface. My sword is four times what yours is and you're still keeping up!"

"I appreciate the compliment!"

As Irina and I were clashing with Freed and the duplicate he created, I could overhear Yuuto and Valper's conversation.

"And who are you supposed to be, boy?" he asked him.

"I am a survivor of the Holy Sword Project; One of the children you had killed. I was saved from the brink of death by my devil master."

"So, you're the boy who escaped. Small world, isn't it?."

"Tell me. Why did you, a so-called man of God, dispose of us like we were useless!?"

"My child, I wouldn't say you were useless. Simply disposing of them would be throwing away the time and energy I sacrificed for my fascination of the Holy Sword Excalibur. Their individual holy energy wasn't sufficient, so I had the bright idea of combining them into the correct amount!"

He held up a blue crystal. It emanated the same form of aura that Freed emanated earlier when he cut through Saji's Absorption Line.

"You killed them all? To create _that!?"_

"Well not just this specifically. This is the last one, though. I used three of them on Freed, there."

Yuuto was shedding tears of pure fury.

Irina had just cut off the head of Freed's Nightmare Illusion when she noticed the crystal.

"I've seen that before!"

"You're right, young lady," he said, tossing the crystal aside. "Even though the church called my research 'barbaric' and had me excommunicated, those hypocrites still had the gall to continue to use it for their own gain!"

I picked up that crystal that Valper tossed aside.

"What is it, Angelface, you find a penny?"

"So, this is the result of Valper's treachery…"

" _You're his friend too, aren't you?"_

I heard that strange voice, almost supernatural in tone.

I looked to my side to see a young girl, but her bluish hue made her look like some sort of ghost or afterimage. Is she one of the souls trapped in this crystal?

"I guess I am."

I noticed more spirits appearing next to me.

"That's odd," said Freed. "I didn't tell Excalibur Nightmare to do that…"

It's definitely not his sword. I bet the sheer amount of magic energy we used may have had a play on this.

" _Well, a friend of his is a friend of us…"_ another one of them said as Freed was literally arguing with his sword over these afterimages.

Yuuto, who had been paralyzed by grief and fury, noticed the spirits next to me.

"Everyone?" he said, with visible joy showing on his face.

" _Isaiah, let us help you,"_ one of the spirits said to Yuuto.

"What?"

" _You don't have to confront your past alone. We will be with you, even if our bodies cannot."_

"Take it, Yuuto!" I said, tossing the crystal to him. "Let your old comrades help you avenge them so you can protect the comrades you have now!"

"You're right, Makoto! Thank you!"

As he said that, the crystal, along with all the spirits, began to merge within him!

" _The Knight is peaking…"_ Albion told me.

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

" _Just like your Sacred Gear, his power also fluctuates in response to the user's feelings. When they reach a certain peak, they can perform a transformation that reshapes order and chaos,_

_also known as a Balance Breaker."_

Yuuto had summoned a single sword on the ground.

"Y'know, all this friendship bullshit is getting on my last nerve!" Freed said as he leapt to confront Yuuto. "I'm putting a stop to this!"

"I shall become the sword of both the President and of my comrades, both past and present!"

The sword began to glow with both light and darkness. Could this be?

"Sword Birth Balance Breaker! Sword of Betrayer!"

It then transformed, revealing a sword that not only emanated holy light, but also a dark energy, with demonic runes inscribed on it.

He had done the impossible! Yuuto Kiba summoned a Holy Demonic Sword!


	6. Opposites Attract

I grasped my new sword in my hand and faced down Freed and Valper.

I will show them justice for what they did to my comrades… with my Balance Breaker!

"This is impossible," Valper exclaimed. "Holy and Demonic energy can't mix!"

"You can do this, Yuuto!" I heard the President call out to me. "Show them what the Knight of Rias Gremory can do and defeat that Excalibur!"

That was what I was planning to do from the beginning. Thank you, President, for your approval.

"Make him bleed!" I heard Koneko call out.

"I agree with the midget, I'm done with the heartwarming, lovey-dovey crap!" Freed said. "Let's get on with the murder!"

I leapt at him as he caused another quake with the sword.

However, his Nightmare piece created three more duplicates that attacked Makoto, Irina, and I.

"Now let's just sit right back and…"

However, as Freed was saying that, another person confronted him, with a new, dangerous holy sword of her own!

"Xenovia! You made it!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Ooh. What's that thing?" Freed asked. "Is it a worthy replacement for the one you graciously loaned me?"

"It's more than worthy. This is the Holy Sword Durandal!"

I've heard of that blade before! It rivals the full Excalibur in power and is said to cut through anything!

"Durandal? But how!?" Valper exclaimed. "My research hasn't reached to the wielding of a holy sword of _that_ power!"

"That's because I didn't _need_ your research," she said. "Just like Makoto, I was born with the affinity to wield a holy sword!"

"Enough of that already! I've heard that spiel the first time!" Freed exclaimed in frustration.

"Then maybe you need to hear it again. This blade is still unruly in my hands, but I have no choice but to use it because you have something that belongs to me… and I need it back!"

"Well, you can't have it!" he replied. "I've grown attached to Excalibur-chan!"

That put her over the edge and she charged at him as we continued fighting with the duplicates he created with Nightmare.

He tried to conceal his blade with Transparency, but the size of Durandal pretty much made it a moot point.

By this point, we had overcame those copies that he made. Mere cloned afterimages are no match for my Holy Demonic Sword, Irina's powerful holy sword, and an Excalibur Piece in the hands of an Angel.

"Let's help her out," I told Makoto.

"Nah," he told me. "It looks like she has it in the bag."

"The original wielder of that sword was the friend of the original wielder of mine," Irina commented, holding up her sword. "It's almost fate that we are chosen to wield Durandal and Hauteclere together."

Sparks flew as the two blades collided. It was obvious from Freed's grimace that he was struggling against Durandal.

I can see why, Durandal is giving off way more holy energy than even that Fused Excalibur. As a devil, I would be terrified to go against that thing. It's a miracle she's on our side.

He made another last-ditch effort to attack her, but she made the first move and the blow knocked him back and cracked the blade!

"Give it up, Freed Sellzen! Your broken holy sword is no match for Durandal!"

"Y- You're broken!"

He struck the ground, momentarily keeping her back with the Destruction aspect.

However, that gave Makoto an opening. He used Excalibur Mimic to wrap cords around his Fused Excalibur.

He exclaimed, "Yoink!" as he ripped the sword right out of Freed's hands.

"Excalibur-chan! No!"

Now's my chance! As the blade was flung through the air, I slashed right through that cursed blade!

My Sword of Betrayer had shattered the Fused Excalibur into pieces.

"Thank you, comrades, my own strength has overcome Excalibur!"

"You're welcome," Makoto said, "Oh wait! You're actually talking to the friends who are inside of y- I need work on the phrasing of that."

"Actually, Makoto, you helped me a lot. You helped me focus more on the present. Even if it is the present opportunity to get back at our old foes."

As I said that, the three of us joined Xenovia in confronting Freed.

Who was currently passed out on the ground, likely due to the shock of the Excalibur breaking.

"Maybe we should wake him up before getting revenge on him," Makoto said.

"There's no sense of justice in kicking him while he's down," Xenovia added.

I nodded.

"I realize now!" Valper exclaimed. "The ability to combine Demonic and Holy powers may be linked to the death of the old Demon Lords. It could also mean that-"

As soon as he said that, Kokabiel flung a massive spear of light in Valper's direction.

Hagane rushed to get between them. She donned her magic armor and took the direct hit.

Xenovia and Irina gasped as they thought she was about to be killed. However, the attack merely caused her to skid back some and shattered her armor, leaving her completely unscathed.

"Yuuto isn't through with him yet! Wait your turn!"

"I heard you had impressive defenses, Hagane Sasaki," Kokabiel said. "I am _almost_ scared of you."

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that he was able to break her armor with a light attack?" Aika commented.

"Even though she's immune to light, the physical force of the attack was likely what shattered the armor," Ravel commented. "Without the amor she would have been pulverized!"

"But that was foolish of you to throw your armor away like that! You're defenseless now!"

He then summoned another spear to attack Hagane, but then Akeno attacked him with a fierce lightning attack. All it really did was interrupt the attack as he used his wings to deflect the attack.

"I'll give you credit for one thing, you definitely inherited Baraqiel's power!"

"Don't you dare compare me to him!"

"Both you and your brother have odd tastes in allies, Gremory! Between the White Dragon Emperor, the Holy Sword Project reject, the Stray of the House of Amon, and Baraqiel's daughter!"

"You will regret insulting my brother like that!" the President responded.

Meanwhile, Makoto and Xenovia were having a conversation.

"What did she say?"

"She was right behind me."

"Then I'll have to stall for time."

After saying that, Makoto then stepped up to confront Kokabiel.

"You will also regret attempting to trash talk Akeno like that!"

I could tell she was blushing from his bold statement.

"Also, if that statement about her father was supposed to be some sort of plot twist," he added, "then you're a bit late to the party there!"

I don't know what he's talking about, the fact that the Vice President is the daughter of a high-ranking fallen angel is news to me…

"Oh! You want a plot twist, huh!?" Kokabiel jeered. "It amuses me that you all fight for the Demon Lords and for God even after losing your masters!"

"Go on! I'm listening!" Makoto continued.

He has way too much confidence. Does he know who he's talking down to!?

Kokabiel cackled and landed on the ground.

"Not only were the old Demon Lords killed in the three-way war, but God was killed as well!"

"What!?" Makoto exclaimed. "Impossible! There's no way that God is dead!"

Hang on a second. Didn't his mother already tell all of us this? Why is he making that dramatic reaction?

Everyone was looking at him odd, except for Akeno and the President, who were smirking, is there some method to his madness that he isn't telling us?

Kokabiel then began ranting.

"Azazel insisted that because God and the Demon Lords were dead and the numbers on all sides were all but exhausted, that there would be no point in continuing the conflict…

BULLSHIT! We should have defeated them when they were down! We could have WON!"

"This can't be!" Makoto continued moping. "And to think that Halja has overthrown Heaven as well!"

He said that last part, however, with a sudden shift to confidence.

"WHAT!? IMPOSSIBLE!"

Makoto laughed. "And you thought _we_ were under a rock about God being dead!"

"The Vatican had already told us two," Xenovia said "It's normally a church secret, but because of the urgency of our mission to stop the Goddess of Death, the fact of God being killed was disclosed to us exorcists."

"It was a rough truth, at first. But I have come to accept it," Irina said.

"Somehow I knew that your lust for continuing that damn war from centuries ago has made you blind to the present reality!" Makoto said.

"Shut up!"

"You forget that God was technically killed once before that, when the humans killed Christ. And that didn't stop him!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Plus, the Father has been killed, the Son has been killed, but what about the Holy Spirit?"

Okay, now Makoto's just messing with him at this point.

" **SHUT THE FUCK UP!"**

Kokabiel launched a light attack at Makoto in retaliation to his taunts.

However, the attack Makoto made with his Power of Retribution as he charged right at him cut right through Kokabiel's attack with ease.

"How did he do that!?" I exclaimed.

"Kokabiel must be unhinged and can't focus on his attacks," the President explained.

"All thanks to Makoto's genius," Akeno added.

"More like Makoto's insanity," Koneko commented, "But, hey, whatever works."

Kokabiel pulled out two massive swords of light as Makoto charged at him with his Excalibur.

Their blades clashed.

"Y'know. You really piss me off!" Kokabiel said to him.

"The feeling is mutual!"

He swung at Makoto wildly, which he avoided, following with a swing at Kokabiel's head in return.

He frantically attempted to dodge the attack by Makoto but ended up getting nicked in the cheek.

" _DIVIDE!"_

"So, you managed to Divide some of my power, huh!?" Kokabiel jeered, beginning to float back in the air. "Then bring out your Balance Breaker, I'm ready!"

"Nah," Makoto replied. "I'll only have a few seconds to use it. I'd rather save the energy to transfer to someone else."

"Who then!? Rias Gremory!? Baraqiel's brat!? One of the Holy Sword users!?"

He pointed his Dividing Gear in Kokabiel's direction.

" _TRANSFER!"_

"Oh. I see. You think I'm weak and transferred it back to me!"

"No, I did not. You are about to lose because you made two mistakes.

1 – You let your anger get the better of you and went berserk.

And 2 – You pissed her off."

I looked further up. Ms. Gabriel was right behind Kokabiel with ten wings of her own! She was surging from the energy Makoto transferred to her.

"You broke the wrong woman's window, Kokabiel…" he added.

"I told you, Kokabiel!" Ms. Gabriel said, "You're the one who's past his prime!"

She then fired off a massive attack at Kokabiel. He attempted in vain to shield against it, but when the smoke cleared and her attack dissipated, there was nothing left of him other than dust.

Kokabiel was no more.

"Remind me never to piss her off…" Aika commented.

"She's the Strongest Woman in Heaven," the President said. "You need no reminder."

"Sorry, I'm late…" Ms. Gabriel said to the President and Makoto.

"No, you're actually early," Makoto said. "He said the town would be destroyed in twenty minutes and you arrived within…"

He looked at his watch.

"17 minutes and 43 seconds of that."

"Well, a lady is always punctual!"

"Okay, where were we before Kokabiel rudely interrupted us?" Makoto said.

We went back to confronting Valper Gallilei.

"I knew it. God really is dead!" he said. "Well I guess you can't blame _him_ then for what happened, can you?"

"No," I said. "But I can sure as hell blame you!"

"What are you gonna do? Kill a harmless old man?"

"I considered it, but I decided it would be better if you spent the rest of your pathetic life in a jail cell knowing that you were at the mercy of a boy you murdered, and you were only sitting there because I decided to spare your lif-"

I then heard a gunshot and he was shot point blank in the head!

"Or, you know. He could be anticlimactically killed," Xenovia said.

"Right in the head!" a shrill girl's voice said. "Take that, Genocide Archbishop!"

"What is _she_ doing here?" Irina asked.

The girl in question had silver and black hair and red eyes. She also posed a striking resemblance to someone.

I noticed Freed was waking up. "Okay. What did I miss?" he said.

He then noticed Valper's dead body. "Oh. Gramps died. It looks like that crazy fallen angel is gone too. Angelface probably did that."

"Hey, big bro!" the girl said, before pointing the smoking gun at him. "You're under arrest~!"

"Allow me," Makoto said, before he summoned ropes around his hands and feet.

"You shouldn't be so reckless, Lint-nya! You nearly killed my precious dragon!"

"Kuroka!" Koneko exclaimed.

It was the Nekomata stray devil from earlier.

"Long time, no see, Shirone."

"Oh. So that's who you were referring to," Makoto commented.

"That was an impressive display earlier," Kuroka said to him. She was getting dangerously close to him. "Do you want to make a child with me? I really want the child of a dragon and angel!"

Okay, what!? Is she trying to seduce him?

"Unless you're fine with the child of a dragon and _fallen_ angel, then I must decline."

"I would be fine with that~"

"Hey, back off!" Koneko said as she suddenly got between them.

"Ah~. Shirone has a crush on the dragon-nya!"

"I would listen to Gremory's Rook if I were you, Kuroka."

That voice! It was the fallen angel that kidnapped Asia!

"I thought you said you killed Raynare!" I said to Makoto.

"I said that she wouldn't be causing us any more problems," he replied.

"I heard from my brother how you saved Makoto's life," the President said to Raynare. "I want to thank you,"

"Think nothing of it…"

"So why are you all here?" Makoto asked her.

"We're a special team organized by Lord Shemhazai," Raynare said. "We were sent to dispose of Freed Sellzen and Valper Gallilei."

Freed then noticed her. "Hi Lady Raynare~"

"Well if it isn't the Priest of Sexual Harassment," she said. "Looks like betraying _me_ wasn't enough for you."

"Well, you see…" he said.

"Freed. We're done here."

It was Milcom Amon and his two servants!

"Nice to see you, again, Yuuto Kiba!" Jin said to me.

I waved back nervously as Jin suddenly cut the binds off of Freed.

"Freed Sellzen was working with us as a double agent," Milcom said, "Unless you want to deal with Lady Halja herself, don't get in our way."

"Yeah, more like a triple agent" Makoto said. "Also, calling me a 'devil-sympathizer' is rich coming from him."

"I lost Excalibur-chan, sorry," Freed said.

"Don't worry, our goal was to eliminate Kokabiel and Valper Galilei for defying Lady Halja's request to join us. Which the Occult Research Club and the Grigori seemed to have accomplished for us by you luring them here."

Raynare and the President both looked mad.

"Hey, Lady Rias, I would very much like to make an arrangement with you about my Rook sometime!" Milcom said to the President.

"I would appreciate it," she replied.

"Bye bye, suckers!" Freed said as they teleported out.

"Well there goes our chance at revenge," Makoto said to me. I nodded.

"Well, we must be leaving, too," Raynare said. "I'll be seeing you soon, Makoto!"

They then left. Hopefully that will be the last of third parties popping in.

"Well, Yuuto. I'm so glad you returned to us," the President said to me. "Unfortunately, you still need to be disciplined for going rogue."

I knew this would happen. Defeating Excalibur and Valper is worth the 1000 spankings, though!

"Your punishment… is to go karaoke with Makoto. You said some harsh things to him, so you must make amends!"

Well, that's a surprise, but a relief as well. Thank you, President, you're the best.

* * *

Back home, later that morning, I was resting on the couch after a long night of screwing with a fallen angel.

I had contacted Sirzechs and Serafall earlier about our victory.

"Were you able to take care of Kokabiel, after all?" Sirzechs asked me

"Yes. Thanks to my Mom."

"Ah man~!" Serafall exclaimed. "I really wanted to swoop in and save my little sister from being violated by that beast!"

"Sorry to disappoint."

"Well, see you soon at the Open House, Makkun!"

"See you," Lord Sirzechs added. "Say hi to Rias for me."

Both of their holograms vanished.

Good grief, I told her to stop calling me that.

Back to now, I felt my head being shifted onto someones lap. The giggling gave away the culprit.

"Thanks, Akeno…"

"You're welcome, Makoto. You were so brave last night."

I could hear Rias talking with Sona near me.

"You were just in the nick of time," she said to Rias. "By then, me and Tsubaki were the only ones able to maintain the barrier."

"Well, we have Ms. Gabriel to thank for that," she replied.

"Though, later. Saji began apologizing profusely to me saying he accidentally let a stray devil and fallen angel inside the barrier after letting Xenovia and Ms. Gabriel in."

"And…"

She sighed. "I wanted to punish him for failing to close the barrier in time, but I remember what you said earlier. I told him it was fine. They didn't cause any additional harm to us anyway."

"Glad to see you've grown a heart."

I couldn't see as I was resting my eyes, but I knew Sona was pouting.

I then heard someone open the door.

"Is Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou still here?"

"Oh, Supervisor!" I saw Irina run up as I quickly got up from Akeno's lap.

Xenovia soon followed.

"The Church wanted to say that they're planning on having your assignment extended for the forseeable future based on your performance in the defeat of the Purist Faction."

I could see glee visibly showing on Irina's face and she began repeatedly yelling "Yes!"

"Does that mean we're continuing our schoolwork in this town?" Xenovia asked.

"That is correct. The Church is willing to pay for your tuition at Kuoh Academy."

"That's awesome!" said Irina. "We already have uniforms, so we're all set!"

"There's one more thing, Lady Gabriel," the Supervisor said. "We've decided to move the Conference from the Vatican to your school. I hear the Sitri family was top-notch at securing the place."

"I appreciate the compliment, sir," Sona replied. "We will not disappoint in your service."

"I will take my leave now," he said. "Goodbye."

"I'm so glad!" Irina said, "That means we get to go to school with you, Makoto!"

This gives me an idea.

"Since you're here for the duration, I have a proposition," I said.

"How would you two like to be my Knights?"


End file.
